ICE clerk accused of harboring migrants

A federal immigration-enforcement employee has been arrested and accused of using her home in Douglas to stash illegal immigrants smuggled across the border into the U.S.

Stella Peterson was arrested Aug. 31 after three illegal immigrants were found in her home on Eighth Street, according to a complaint filed in U.S. District Court.

She is charged with harboring illegal aliens for profit, according to court records.

Her son, Anthony Peterson, was also arrested.

Stella Peterson, born in 1961, is an investigative assistant assigned to Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations in Douglas, said Amber Cargile, a spokeswoman for the agency.

Her primary duties are providing clerical and administrative support to investigators, Cargile said.

"(ICE) takes all allegations of employee misconduct seriously and is fully cooperating with the ongoing investigation by the Southern Arizona Corruption Task Force," Cargile said in a written statement.

Peterson was placed on paid administrative leave after her arrest. She will remain on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation and criminal charges, Cargile said.

According to the complaint, Peterson said she knew that her son had been using the house to harbor and smuggle illegal immigrants. She admitted that illegal immigrants had been smuggled out of her home at least four times. She also admitted that she had provided material assistance to the illegal immigrants and on several occasions had received financial assistance from her son, the complaint says.

The three illegal immigrants told investigators that they paid a smuggler $2,000 to $3,000 to be smuggled into the United States and that Anthony Peterson charged them an additional $100 each to be driven from an alleyway to the stash house, the complaint said.

All three have agreed to serve as material witnesses, according to court documents.